A MOTHER of two died from a knock on the head after she fell during a night out with her husband.

Claire Turner fell backwards as she tried to get into a taxi and hit her head on the road.

Thinking she was not badly hurt, she and her husband returned home but the next morning her family could not rouse her and she was rushed to hospital where she died.

Mrs Turner and her husband Stephen had been on a night out in Worcester city centre and had enjoyed drinks in several pubs and a Chinese meal before the accident.

At an inquest, Worcestershire coroner Victor Round said Mrs Turner, a housewife, of Waterworks Road, Barbourne, Worcester, had drunk a "substantial amount of cider", although he refused to say exactly how much.

Reading from a police report, Mr Round said the 42-year-old had become unsteady on her feet and was being helped to walk by her husband on the evening of Saturday, March 31.

At about 9.45pm, they made their way to the taxi rank on The Cross, but as Mr Turner opened the cab door she fell backwards, banging her head on the road.

"She did regain full consciousness and seemed unhurt apart from a cut to the scalp which had bled a bit," said Mr Round.

He said when Mr Turner went out at 7am on Sunday, April 1, his wife appeared to be asleep but on his return at 11am, his two daughters, Alex, 15, and Laura, 13, said she still wasn't up and he called for an ambulance when he couldn't wake her.

She was taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital where a CT scan revealed bleeding inside the skull and she died on Monday, April 2.

At Thursday's inquest, Mr Round said there had been no post-mortem examination, but he was happy the scan had shown Mrs Turner had died from an inter-cranial bleed and recorded a verdict of accidental death.

After the inquest, Mr Turner, a print finisher, paid tribute to his wife who he described as "a loving wife" who loved her children and was "always full of fun".

"You sort of take each other for granted," he said. "It is only now she has gone that I realise how much she did. She was leaning on my arm as we went to the taxi and I let go of her for just a second and she stumbled back, fell and hit her head."

Mr Turner said an ambulance was parked nearby and his wife had her head checked by a paramedic.

"They had a look at her, but she got straight up and said she was fine," he said.

Mr Turner said he had been sent more than 50 condolence cards. Mrs Turner's funeral is held on Monday at Worcester Crematorium.